Another thing we talked about this week was Charlie’s Book. It got me thinking about men and how I totally disrespected their weight loss struggles. So I thought I’d spread some link love to some of the guys in the weight loss blogosphere like, Mr. Meltdown, John, Rob and Israel all men, all struggling, all at different stages on the journey.

The next little link nugget came from TwinToddlersDad of Little Stomaks. Check out his post about Food Labels in the UK. The idea is to color code the nutritional information so we can see immediately if the levels of fat, sugars, salt and so on are "Green", "Yellow", or "Red". I don’t know about you, but I think this is genius! Anyone work for the FDA? Can we get this on the agenda? :~)

Another thing I thought genius…. Hally left a comment on GreenLiteBites and I checkout her blog. She has a cloth diaper touring the world and I think it’s AWESOME! I’m going to admit, I was a disposable girl myself. *No lectures, PLEASE* I kind of wish someone sent me a cloth diaper with instructions. I may have changed my ways!

Other news… STILL working on my last 2 giveaways, STILL have to edit my second video session from last friday but I do feel as if I accomplished something this week. What? I’m not quite sure. Tonight is pumpkin carving night, tomorrow I have a wedding (don’t ask), my in-laws are coming in, my house is a mess, and I’m having a get together for the Notre Dame/Pitt game on Sunday where I will be cooking for 6 plus the toddler. Good times! Always an adventure! I better sign off! :~)

Busy Busy Busy! I love the shirt designs – the one with the broccolli is my favorite!

I also don’t usually respect weightloss struggles that men have. But Charlie’s blog has definitely started to change that.

Made your chocolate pumpkin muffins last night and brought them to work today. I won’t have one though because I did put icing and a piece of candy corn on each of them. At least my coworkers will be eating a healthier cupcake without even knowing it – Bwahahaha. And trust me, we can always use some healthier snacks around here.

Honestly ladies, it does bug us that we don’t get as much respect from some of you. I do know that our metabolisms are set up differently, but I would say that most men who have lost a fair amount of weight and kept it off have struggled to do so. I know that this process is a struggle for me and I am only halfway home.

I think that the blogging weight loss community is just awesome and it is great that we can all learn from one another.

OK enough about all that.

Hey Roni – That game is on Saturday, not Sunday. You probably already knew that but I would hate for you to be late in your preparations.

What do you MEAN you don’t know exactly WHAT you have accomplished this week. Just for starters–I had the pumpkin pie oatmeal for breafast–MMMM!!! I am, as I speak, eating the Ramen Noodle chili for lunch–another MMMMM! And I LOVE that broccoli t-shirt and plan to order one as soon as I can set aside a minute to do it! I don’t know about your own life, but you certainly have accomplished a lot in mine! :)

Great stuff and so much great work! I’d love to have one with the broccoli, but I would actually love it on navy, would that be possible? I know I am a bit like Sally of Harry and Sally – you know, “On the side” – so sorry about that!

That actually makes me think of another “QOTW”: “To the (wo)men like Roni who actually “did it”: I know that many people who achieved their goal weight and actually maintained it describe a much more active lifestyle and that they have become different persons, i.e. more active, productive, etc. How does that transition happen? And does it happen to anyone of you, or are some of you exactly the same as before concerning activity/productivity/etc.?”

And I don’t actually have a problem with men and weight loss as long as they are not the ones teasing bigger women. I have met a lot of bigger men (including my dad) who think bigger women are unattractive, and they were actually offended when I told them to have a closer look at themselves. And then, to my surprise, some of them even started to open up and tell me about problems they had with themselves. So I think they were actually projecting their own problems on the women they found unattractive. I can understand what they mean, but I cannot accept it.

Don’t get me wrong, size does not count for me, I want to fall in love with the right person, no matter if he is big or thin. I really mean that. But I really cannot tune into the thin=attractive thing, and I cannot help confronting people who have an opinion before they look at themselves first. There may be advantages about a healthy weight range, but attractiveness is not necessarily one of them.

Apart from that, men sometimes have different reasons for weight gain or motivations for weight loss I find harder to understand, but I think this might be the same the other way round.

Thanks Roni for supporting all of us guys on this crazy weight loss struggle. It is people like you that gives me energy and strength to to continue on my fat loss journey publicly. You my friend are one of the good ones and I am thankful for real bloggers like you. :)